The owner of Worldchoice Sports said he was "devastated" to have to cancel flights but vowed to keep trying to help stranded supporters.

Shay Soni blamed the airport authorities in Ukraine for the mess and confirmed all fans will be fully refunded.

"The past 24 hours have been an absolute nightmare. It really has been a very difficult time," he said.

"The issue started last Friday when the slot co-ordinators at Kiev airport were unable to give us slots for our aircraft."

He said they had gone through "almost every avenue" without success until the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, stepped in and one flight was reinstated.

Mr Soni said the company would keep working to get the remaining flights reinstated but added: "I'm not very hopeful.

"I'm a Liverpool fan. I am really, really upset and sad... We have never had an issue like this before."

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Liverpool fan Rob Andrews had his flight cancelled but has now secured one from Dublin

Asif Badat, 32, from Leeds, is also stranded despite having match tickets.

He said: "We were being given assurances about our tickets and then suddenly the flights were cancelled.

"I'm now considering flying to Romania and driving 10 hours from there."

Rob Andrews had his Liverpool-Kiev flight cancelled but has now managed to secure a flight from Dublin.

He will fly back to Dublin via Istanbul.

He told the BBC: "I don't even want to work out how much it's costing me. We got very little information from Worldchoice."

On Thursday, Mr Anderson said he had negotiated an agreement with Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko - a former world heavyweight boxing champion - in a round of phone calls.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Liverpool's mayor said he was chasing an "urgent update" from Worldchoice on "why we have a shambles regarding fans flights, after the concessions made by airport yesterday. Will keep searching for solutions until none left".

He revealed he and Mayor Klitschko were exploring the possibility of another airport nearby being used.

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The Liverpool squad was greeted by fans at the team hotel

The decision by Uefa - the governing body of European football - to stage its most prestigious club match in Kiev has been heavily criticised.

Liverpool FC's head of club and supporter liaison Tony Barrett said: "The decision to hold the final at a location which is so difficult and so extraordinarily expensive to get to is one that needs explaining by those who made it.

"To every Liverpool fan who is having a nightmare, and I use the word nightmare deliberately, arranging travel to Kiev I can only apologise.

"What should be one of the most exciting times of your lives is currently anything but and that, to me, is inexcusable."

Fans who have secured a means of making the final have complained of the complicated route they are having to take.

Ivan Mulla, 46, from Liverpool, said: "It's been a nightmare, I'm flying from Leeds to Rome then from Rome to Kiev.

"The return is from Kiev to Ankara and then Ankara to Antalya then Antalya to Leeds."

Liverpool FC said on its website: "The decision to offer refunds has been made in response to the cancellation of two flights chartered by Widnes-based travel company World Choice Sport, leaving around 650 supporters without a flight to Kiev for the Champions League final."

Separately, a number of Liverpool supporters already in Kiev were caught up in trouble when they were seemingly attacked in a restaurant on Thursday night.

Merseyside Police said two Liverpool fans suffered minor cuts and two Ukrainian men had been arrested on suspicion of assault.